Whatever it Takes
by Scribbles-by-Kate
Summary: After Belle puts herself under the sleeping curse, Rumple ponders what to do and comes to see what her actions and words meant. Potential spoilers for 5.19 "Sisters", mainly for the appearance of a particular character towards the end.
As ever, _Once_ is the property of Adam, Eddy, and ABC.

 **Whatever it Takes**

The books were the first to go. She'd be horrified, but he didn't care. After sitting by her bedside for ages, lost in despair, he'd suddenly become furious and he stood, turning away from her. His eyes landed on the books and he picked one up and ripped it apart in his hands. Several more followed before he turned his rage on the items around the shop.

The suit of armour clattered to the floor and fell apart; then jars and bottles on the shelves went, smashing onto the floor; then drawers were pulled out and their contents toppled onto the floor. He kept going until the back room looked like a bomb had exploded in it, and he was left, standing in the middle of the carnage, shaking with rage and fear.

How dare she do this? How dare she leave him alone to fix this? How dare she go to Zelena of all people? Zelena! Oh, but maybe he'd have done the same thing in her shoes. Would he trust him were he in her position? And it wasn't like he hadn't worked with people who'd hurt her in the past. Regina had kept her locked away for thirty years for goodness' sake, and then there were the Queens of Darkness, who'd kidnapped her and almost choked the life out of her.

She was just lashing out, he knew: she hadn't meant to hurt him. She was hurting: she'd done something drastic in the name of saving him and their baby: she'd never been in a position like this before… But if she'd just let him take care of Gaston, everything would be fine now and they could be home already, their baby safe from Hades, and she wouldn't have to deal with the pain of experiencing darkness.

She knew the side effects of sleeping curses. Why on earth would she do this to herself? Thankfully, the baby had no consciousness as of yet to be affected by the after effects. Their baby would come out of the curse unscathed, though Belle would not. The nightmares of the Netherworld would lessen over time, of course, but he remembered from Henry how horrific they could be. And Belle had knowingly done that to herself. Foolish, reckless, brave, impulsive woman! But if she was willing to endure that for their child… What would he not do in her shoes? Hell, he'd been in her shoes and he'd taken on the Darkness to save his first child. That was easily as reckless and impulsive as Belle's move today: more so. Yes, she was foolish, but no more foolish than he, and, gods, he couldn't help but love her more for it, though he was furious at her too.

He looked down at her, still in her coat and hat, lying on the cot, looking so peaceful. He was so angry with her, but he also loved her with everything he was, even his darkness. She and their baby were the most important things in his world, but, gods, he was going to yell at her when she woke up!

He dared not think about her not waking up. Still, it was an awfully large amount of faith to put in a man who barely tolerated her choices. Maurice had never cared for Belle's spirit. The man had wanted to send her over the town line when he found out she'd fallen in love with the Dark One for goodness' sake! And Belle thought he felt True Love for her?

But he could see where she was coming from with that idea too. She was an expectant mother, with already a fierce love for the child that they had created together: he could see that in her eyes. Of course she felt True Love for their child, a child they had talked about in the first happy days of their marriage. He could still remember the way her eyes had lit up as they discussed it.

'Are you sure?' she'd asked: 'you really want a child with me?'

Well, of course he did: he could think of nothing more wonderful than a child with Belle's spirit and fire and determination and intelligence, and Belle's eyes looking up at them.

A fierce protective spirit rose within him, both for her and their baby. 'You do whatever it takes to get me back to him,' she'd said: whatever it takes. Of course… That was Belle - brave, understanding Belle - _accepting_ his power. Why hadn't he understood that at once? _Because you didn't trust her_ , a voice inside sniped at him. True: he hadn't. He'd leaped to assumptions about why she was inflicting a curse like this on herself. She didn't disapprove of his power, really: she wouldn't have come to him for help if she did. She may not trust him completely right now, and with good reason: he hadn't told her about being the Dark One again immediately, but she trusted him enough to destroy the contract and get her home by any means necessary. That was her accepting his power, giving him _carte blanche_ to use it in any way he needed to to get their baby free and get her home. In his mistrust, he'd been too dense to see that she had moved from her rigidity about dark magic to a more accepting stance.

She even accepted that he didn't want to have to choose between her and his power. He'd told her both were possible and she accepted that now. That she didn't expect him to be the one to wake her was proof enough that she wasn't expecting him to choose between her and his power. She loved him enough to accept that he needed his power. She loved him far more than he deserved.

'Oh, Belle,' he whispered: 'why is there never time for us to understand each other? Why is there always crisis after crisis with us? My darling, I wish I was an easier man to love. I don't know why you still do, why you don't stay away. You keep coming back to me and I keep hurting you. I told you I wanted to do better by you and look where we are. I can't seem to break old habits, and still you think I'm better than I am, and I love you for that.

'I'm going to fix this, Belle: I'll save our baby and I'll get you home, and then, once you're awake, I'm going to do all I can to fix what's broken between us, if you'll let me. I wanna earn your trust again, and I'll start with this promise: I will save our baby and I will get you home. I love you.' And he gently drew his fingertips over her soft cheek.

Standing, he looked down at her for a moment, nodded, and went out to the front of he shop. What he needed was behind the counter. He'd held it in his hands a couple of times in the last few days, but now he didn't hesitate to blow into it.

'Hello, Rumple.'

Rumplestiltskin turned, lowering his father's pipes to his side as he looked at his father.

'I was hoping you'd call,' Pan said.

'It wasn't to reminisce on old times, I assure you,' Rumple said.

'Business, then.' Pan nodded. 'What can I do for you?'

Rumplestiltskin swallowed the lump of fear. Belle had said to do whatever it took, but he didn't know if she'd object to this. Still, if she'd wanted help from the Charmings, she'd have gone to them herself. She didn't trust them, he realised. No more did he. He didn't know that he could trust his father either, of course, but he'd rather try this than go to the Charmings. They were too preoccupied with saving the pirate anyway: helping save their baby wouldn't be their priority as it was his and Belle's.

Rumplestiltskin took a breath and looked at his father. 'I need your help.' He couldn't help the way his voice cracked and he blinked and looked away, collecting himself. After a moment, he sighed, and met his father's gaze again. 'You're the only one who can help me.'

Pan's expression shifted, became more attentive and even sympathetic. 'What do you need my help with?'

 **The end - I'll leave the episode to fill in the rest :) Thanks for reading :)**


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